3 visuals for webpage
This code will help produce the three visuals that are going to be a
part of each equity tracker indicator webpage: regional map (tract
level) of most recent data, chart of the most recent data, chart of
trends over time.
If the indicator is a PUMS/OPSI indicator that can be accessed
through Elmer. Getting the data to a workable version may
require some data transformation. To explore, clean, transform, and
generate a final data set, please use the
data-gen-pums-template. This script will generate an .rda for
the map and an .rda for the charts. These data sets will be loaded in
before the data visualization code.
Indicator Explanation
Access to affordable rent helps to ensure that people can choose to
live in safe and stable housing that is located in neighborhoods with
the services and amenities they require. Increasing access to housing
provides greater opportunity for households to choose where they can
live.
For this measure, we are focused on renting households and define
access to affordable rent as the share of census tracts where households
can afford to live by spending 30% or less of their income on rent. This
indicator is determined based on the median gross rent of the location
and the median household income for the region or a specific group of
people. At its most basic, we are visualizing where and what proportion
of tracts can a typical renter afford the typical rent?
1. Map of most recent data
To map data in this form, it requires accessing data at the
regional/tract level from ACS since the Elmer data set is already
aggregated to equity group/quintile.
Create Visual
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2021
5-Year Estimates; U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division 2020 TIGER/Line
Shapefiles
* The regional affordability threshold is defined as 30% of the regional
monthly median household income
Data call outs
- $1,640: Regional affordability threshold
- 39%: Share of tracts where rent is affordable based on the regional
median household income
- 1/4: King County has the lowest proportion of tracts with affordable
rent
Insights & Analysis
- Access to affordable rent is highest in Kitsap (69%), followe by
Pierce County (60%), Snohomish (42%), and King (25%)
- Ten census tracts tied with the highest median gross rent ($3,500)
are all in King County: three in southern Mercer Island, two in Clyde
Hill/Hunts Point/Medina/Yarrow Point, three in Bellevue, two in
Sammamish
- The highest median gross rent in Pierce, Kitsap, and Snohomish
County are: in Tehaleh community south of Bonney Lake ($2,800), in the
southwestern portion of Bainbridge ($3,500), and southern Mukilteo
($3,400)
- More affordable rents are seen in south Seattle, south King County,
Tacoma/central Pierce County, along the I-5 corridor in Snohomish
County, and in communities farther out from the region’s urban core
2. Facet of most recent data
Create Visual
Access to Affordable Rent
Number of census tracts that are affordable based on median gross rent
and median household income
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2021 5-Year
Estimates; U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division 2020 TIGER/Line
Shapefiles
Data call outs
- 3/4: Three out of four census tracts are affordable for people with
a disability
- 23%: Share of affordable tracts for households with limited English
proficiency, a 71 percentage point difference compared to
English-proficient households
- 19%: Difference in the share of affordable tracts between households
with older adults and other households
Insights & Analysis
- People of color have slightly lower access to affordable rent in all
counties compared to white non-Hispanic, except in Snohomish County
where both groups are able to afford rent in 91% of the census
tracts
- This small difference between the people of color and white
non-Hispanic groups is in part driven by high median household incomes
for certain Asian households. More information about the way in which
the Asian subgroup differs in housing opportunities from other racial
subgroups is available in the Regional Housing Strategy: 2023
Monitoring Report. Within the Asian racial group, there is also
great diversity and disparities experienced by different Asian
subgroups, as described in a PSRC
blog post from 2022
- For households living below 200% of poverty level, Pierce County is
the only county where there is one affordable tract (out of 193, or
1%)
- The disparity in access to affordable rent between households with
older adults and other households is greatest in Snohomish County (22%)
and King (21%), and much smaller in Pierce (8%) and Kitsap (5%)
3. Facet of trend data
Create Visual
Access to Affordable Rent
Number of census tracts that are affordable based on median gross rent
and median household income
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2021 5-Year
Estimates; U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division 2020 TIGER/Line
Shapefiles
Data call outs
- 150%: Households in the region living below 200% of federal poverty
line paid 150% more in 2021 than in 2011
- $100: Regionally, people of color spend an average $100 less in
median gross rent than white non-Hispanic households, a gap which has
remained relatively consistent in King County in the last ten years, but
has narrowed in Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties
- 100%: Median gross rent of households in the region with older
adults is $400 lower than households without older adults, an increase
of 100% from 2011
Insights & Analysis
- Median gross rent has consistently increased across the entire
region from 2011 to 2021
- Median gross rent of households (regardless of income) stayed
relatively static in Kitsap and Pierce County over time, while median
gross rent of households increased greatly in King County (more than 55%
for households who are below 200% of federal poverty level and 64% for
those living above)
- Similarly, in Snohomish County, households living below 200% of
poverty level are paying 45% more than they did in 2011 and 54% more for
those living above
- The gap in median gross rent between people with a disability
compared to those living without remained relatively consistent in all
counties (from 2016 to 2021)